Turnbull's university cuts hurt local students

Tuesday’s Budget confirmed the worst for students in Melbourne’s South-East, with Malcolm Turnbull jacking up student fees and cutting $3.8 billion in funding from universities to pay for a big business tax cut.

The Hon Mark Dreyfus QC MP

Shadow Attorney General Shadow Minister for National Security Federal Member for Isaacs

TURNBULL’S UNIVERSITY CUTS HURT LOCAL STUDENTS

Tuesday’s Budget confirmed the worst for students in Melbourne’s South-East, with Malcolm Turnbull jacking up student fees and cutting $3.8 billion in funding from universities to pay for a big business tax cut.

Mr Turnbull is completely out of touch and Labor will never support these cuts.

“If Australia is to have a strong, high productivity economy, we should be investing in education, not cutting it like the Liberals are doing,” Member for Isaacs Mark Dreyfus said.

“These cuts will hurt students in Melbourne’s South-East and will be a disincentive for young people to commit to higher education. It’s shameful.”

“Mr Turnbull clearly wants Australia’s higher education system to go the way of the United States, where only wealthy families can afford to send their children to universities,” Mr Dreyfus said.

In Government, Labor lifted overall investment in universities from $8 billion a year in 2007 to $14 billion a year in 2013.

Over the past four years, the Liberals have spent around $4.5 million on 27 reviews, inquiries, and talkfests on higher education. All they've come up with is plan for higher student fees and cuts to universities.